Missing the Point [part one] ...

Why do you suppose the story of Peter and John healing the lame man at the gates of the Temple exists?  Sure, it is a part of church history.  The resulting reactions reminded the Sanhedrin of Jesus and what they did to Him, and you could argue the miracle caused them to back into persecution mode.  So perhaps you could argue that miracle done in the name of Jesus was a catalyst for the early Christian Church.  But this story would be read by many well after persecution had taken on different forms and come from different sources.  It is read now in our own day when the freedom to read and believe seems well established.  So why do we care about it?  Is it just church history to us?  I think we tend to venerate the disciples as carrying the pillars of our faith on their shoulders, somehow making them beyond normal, making them Biblical heroes in a way we could never imagine ourselves becoming.  And if that is where our thinking has evolved, I dare say we have completely missed the point.

What Peter and John did, did not occur because of how special they were.  They were the farthest thing from special, they were in fact as common as common could be.  Fisherman were not the class to lecture in the sanctuary or temple circuits.  Fisherman were not invited to debate in the halls of power, or to offer insight on any scripture anywhere.  This was not a personal slight against Peter or John, or any other disciple of Christ, it was just the way society in their day measured itself.  To teach, you needed education, quite a bit of education, to even think about it.  To teach, you needed to be disciples of a venerated Rabbi who could pass along his own knowledge to you.  The process took years, many years.  So when you examined “who” did teach scripture it was always the old, always the male, always those tempered by time.  That was NOT Peter and John.  They were young men.  They never did get any kind of notable traditional education at all, not before Jesus, and not after Him.  They did NOT fit the mold of any kind of teacher, let alone preacher, let alone evangelist or eloquent public speaker.  But Luke records in his book of Acts, a series of public sermons by Peter with stunning results.

Does any of that sound like you?  Does the common part of Peter ring a bell in your soul?  What about the youthful inexperienced part of who he was, does that sound like you?  How about a total lack of public speaking up till the days he started doing it out of nowhere, with no plan, no planned event, in front of thousands with no planned speech at all.  Luke starts the story in chapter three of his book of Acts in the first verse it says … “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.”  This was just two friends going to the temple to pray with everyone else around 3:00pm in the afternoon, as was the custom for those who were in Jerusalem at the time.  They would not be alone.  But they would certainly be praying differently than anyone else in ear shot of the two of them.  For everything these two men would ask would be asked in the name of Jesus.  This was just two young men who just wanted to go to Temple to pray.  Nothing special.  Nothing much uncommon, and zero plans at all.

Luke continues in verse 2 saying … “And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; [verse 3] Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.”  As Peter and John approached the Temple to pray, they encounter a beggar asking for any kind of money or alms they may have been carrying.  How many times have you been approached by someone begging for money, carrying a cardboard sign, or just looking like a homeless person with no better alternatives.  Notice the irony of Luke pointing out the name of the gate was beautiful, when the life of this crippled beggar was anything but beautiful.  He had to be carried to this spot every day.  And once there he could not move to any other.  He sat in abject humility forced to ask any passer-by for anything they could spare, in order to even try to maintain his own needs.  But his needs went far beyond his stomach.

And here is some of the point we tend to miss.  The beggar had no hope beyond the money he asked for.  The beggar had lost any hope that healing was even possible.  His bones were misshapen, his muscles in complete atrophy around his ankles and lower legs.  That was the medical fact of his life.  It had been like this since birth.  And he was known to all who passed by there, as they saw him growing up sitting in the same gate unable to ever move.  Perhaps he had been carried to this site by different people over time, thinking they could at least provide him this service.  So the beggar asks for the only thing he has hope to ask for, not always expecting to get money either, but still hoping for it.  Is that us?  Are we so spiritually crippled by our own self-limitations, or worse the limitations of the box we place God in, that we have lost all hope for the needs we truly have, and instead only ask for money.  In truth, it does sound like so much of the church as it exists today.

I wonder if we encountered such a crippled beggar as this today, would any of us ever think to help carry him to the temple in order to beg?  Would we just give him a dollar or two, and think our responsibility has been met and nothing more of us should ever be required.  Or would we like the Pharisee in the parable of the good Samaritan cross the road, or roll up the window, in order to avoid any contact with the less fortunate fearing they may hurt us to get what they need.  After all, most beggars in our day must just be lazy or crazy right, perhaps we can just say a quick prayer for them and be on our way.  But this is not the approach Peter or John took that afternoon while on the way to prayer.  Perhaps because we never seem to be on the way to prayer, much too busy for that, we don’t have the time for beggars either.

Luke continues in verse 4 saying … “And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. [verse 5] And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. [verse 6] Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”  Notice there is no hesitancy in Luke’s account of this encounter.  Peter sees beyond the need of alms to the needs of this beggar’s soul.  To restore his hope, he needs his body healed.  He needs to see a miracle done for him without any faith it could be done, or ever would be done.  Peter does not withhold money in exchange for something greater, as neither Peter or John were carrying any money at the time.  Had they been carrying money, they would have gladly shared it as well, for that is how the whole Christian community was living freely with each other at the time.  When we don’t have spare change how many times do we simply say “sorry, we don’t have anything today”.  And we then feel absolved from any responsibility because since we do not carry cash there is really nothing more we can do.  And I would ask, is that how Jesus handled these encounters?  Peter and John had been with Jesus so many times in encounters like these and they KNEW what Jesus would have done.  So they did it too. 

Without committee to assess, without any faith on the part of the recipient, without going to huddle and determine what approach they should take, or how to pray a prayer that would not embarrass them if it failed, they boldly asked the man to rise up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  While the beggar had no idea what was going on, Peter and John expected this miracle to take place, in fact, they had no doubt it would.  Medical facts on the ground were nothing to the disciples of Christ.  Medical facts, even up to death, never stopped Jesus, why should it stop them.  Keep in mind, these were two young men, the most common type of men the earth could produce back then, not formally educated, not Rabbi’s, not teachers or preachers.  And they probably would not have considered themselves evangelists or even faith healers.  But none of that stopped them, or even gave them a moment’s pause.  They just asked for a miracle and knew it was coming.

Luke continues in verse 7 saying … “And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ancle bones received strength. [verse 8] And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.”  Crooked malformed bones straightened out without a twitch of pain.  Muscles long in decline were made full, and carried the strength of a young man in his prime.  The former crippled beggar leaped into the air.  He not only stood, but walked and continued leaping like a gazelle, all the while praising God.  Notice the miracle was attributed back to the power and love of a redeeming God.  Neither Peter or John immediately went around saying, “you know, we did that” or “if it were not for us, this guy would still be laying here at the beautiful gate just begging up a storm”.  Nor did Peter or John, turn to the healed beggar, and ask for a donation for their own ministry.  No fame.  No fortune.  Not even to seek for credit as to who did it.  Because they both knew, “they” were as common as common gets.  There was nothing in them, that made the man walk, there was only power in the name of Jesus Christ.

And instead of stopping to judge whether the beggar was worthy of such a miracle (who of us is?) they just acted in love to him.  And the results were stunning.  You could not keep this man from shouting his praise to God, and literally leaping into the air.  Eyes around the temple that had gone there to pray were drawn to this man disturbing the quiet and somber place, with such heartfelt sincere praises to God it was infectious.  The entire crowd recognized him, they saw the miracle, and none could explain it.  But they each knew God did this.  And praise began to sweep over the entire crowd.  The hearts of Israelites were suddenly irreversibly lifted in joy and excitement over what has happened.  Luke goes on in verse 9 saying … “And all the people saw him walking and praising God: [verse 10] And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.”  Wonder and amazement swept the crowd.  The praise lifted to God on this afternoon was catching fire and none could contain it.

This commotion would be noticed quickly by the church authorities.  And predictably they would not share the spirit of joy and praise for they were filled with another spirit.  The contrast would be stunning.  But in the recounting of this story in Acts, I still wonder if we have missed the point entirely.  You are no different than Peter or John.  And before you start protesting in your own mind and heart, immediately recounting all your sins and failures, Peter and John had just as many of those in their own lives.  And unless you happen to be a member of church leadership, educated from birth into the scriptures and how to debate them, you probably resemble Peter and John more than you think.  All you ever needed was time with Jesus.  You spend it in prayer.  Jesus walks with you every day.  And the same Spirit that was poured out on Peter or John, can as easily be poured out on you if you but ask for it.

None of this is to make you some kind of great faith healer, or evangelist.  You probably think that could never be you, you never made any plans along those lines.  Neither did they.  This story is not just a part of church history, it is a road map to your future.  Your ministry could by the grace of God become one where you have the confidence and security in the love of Christ to ask for miracles done in His name.  Miracles for the benefit of someone else in need.  Miracles that restore hope to the soul, and turn misery into praises that leap and bound across church floors.  Imagine the person stricken with cancer, aids, covid, or any other disease that medical science and medical facts just cannot undo.  Imagine the joy and praise that could enter that person’s heart when healing comes from your simple prayer on their behalf said in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

The point of this, the point of this miracle, is that you and Peter and John, are really no different at all.  There was nothing special about them that allowed this to occur.  If you believe, ask for His Spirit, and keep your eyes open for others in need, you too could be calling down miracles from heaven that would disrupt not only the medical community, but restore hope to souls who have long since given up, and have never really known the love of Jesus until it comes cratering into their lives through your prayers for them. 

And healing is only the first part of this story, there is more yet to come …

 

From Noon till Three ...

Abraham repeated.  Many of us may remember the story of Abraham and his son Isaac, when God tested Abraham to see if he would be willing to part with the thing he loved the most because God asked him to.  Some wonder why Abraham had to endure such a test.  What point did it serve?  But because it did happen, the Israelite nation had this story of faith in its ancestry for generation after generation to observe and wonder about.  So many would learn of this test of parting with what we love the most; trusting to God what does not make sense to us, but doing what God said, because God said it.  No one could imagine that the test was destined to be repeated.  But the next version of it was not to be a test of love for a human to pass, but instead the test our God Himself must pass if we were to be saved.  But in the case of our God, Jesus would not be spared at the last minute.   Jesus would have to die.  Our God would have to part with who He loved the most, in order to see us have a chance at redemption and reconciliation.  No angelic hand would be sparing “THE Lamb of God”, instead that angelic hand would be sent to spare the Passover lamb.  Three stories blending into one, with timing nothing short of divine.

As for timing, at the time of the death of Jesus, every periodic feast, or event, happened or culminated in that the same year.  The year of Jubilee for example, the once every 50-year event, when the slaves were set free all across the land of Israel, happened at the year of the death of Christ.  Yes there is a lesson there.  No slave was ever intended to remain a slave.  Not the ones bought and sold in ancient times, nor you and I who before Jesus were nothing but slaves to sin and self.  But beyond the year of Jubilee, if a feast happened once every 7 years or once every 12 years, it was due to happen in the year of Jesus’ death.  This timing would wind up drawing people towards Jerusalem in larger numbers than usual, particularly at Passover which was considered the most important event in Jewish religion.  If you were a freed slave you might want to attend this event for the first time as a freed person.  If you were a Jewish believer and were too poor to gather for the other periodic feasts, you would definitely choose to attend Passover in order to see the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement, when the sins of the nation were laid upon the lamb who would be slain in sacrifice.  These events would happen at the rebuilt Temple directly in front of the Most Holy place where only the giant curtain would separate the two main chambers of the Temple.

Only the High Priest of the Jewish nation could dare to tread behind that giant dividing curtain on the Day of Atonement.  In fact bells were sown into the bottom of the garments of the High Priest in order for those outside to hear if he were still alive behind the curtain.  If the High Priest were still filled with sin behind this curtain he would be struck dead by the very presence of God.  And those outside would have to pull the dead High Priest out of the chamber using the ropes they would secure around his waist before he ventured in.  If instead they too ventured into that chamber there would have been a stack of bodies not just the one.  So this event was a bit terrifying in nature, as well as awesome in symbolism.  And keep in mind it was the very personal presence of our God (Jesus that is) who sat upon the mercy seat constructed upon the top of the ark of the covenant which resided in that most holy place.  These were not just idol traditions happening in empty chambers, but instead real events happening before the presence of a real God.  A real judge of our character.  A real mercy seat.  Taking away our real sins with the blood of the symbolic lamb.

But today was different.  Jesus the real lamb of God was hung on the cross outside of the city of Jerusalem on the hill called Mt. Calvary.  This time it was God the Father who was Himself enduring the test of Abraham repeated with no hope of an out at the last minute.  Instead it was a humble perfect lamb at the Temple of Jerusalem who was to gain a reprieve.  Luke picks up the events in his letter to his friend about what we believe and why in the 23^rd chapter starting in verse 44 saying … “And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.”  Eclipse?  No.  Thunderstorm?  Not likely, a thunderstorm in the desert would have been unusual, but heavy rains, winds, lightnings, and thunderings would have driven casual spectators back into their homes, not allowed them to continue standing at the foot of the cross for three hours while Jesus hung in agony for our sins.  This all started at noon and lasted till three pm in our modern telling of time during the day.  This would have coincided perfectly with the ceremonies at the Temple to celebrate Passover.  You can imagine both audience and participants were certainly terrified as this darkness could hardly be seen as an omen of good.

But today was different.  Instead of bright noon day sun, a darkness of the sun refusing to shine, no moon, no stars, just a thick black dark.  It was very dark, perhaps not as bad as it was in Egypt during the plague of darkness, but this was miraculous darkness none the less.  Nature itself refused to look upon the death of its creator.  And our Father God must sit upon His throne and take no action to spare His Son, His most loved Son, the agony, pain, humiliation, naked degradation, and blood flow as it does from open wounds, while dying upon that cross.  Our Father God cannot reassure His Son, or comfort Him, or even be with Him in His agony.  Jesus must die and die alone separated from the presence of His Father.  Jesus cannot see through these events to know if they will be enough to satisfy the justice required by heaven’s law.  Will Jesus be forever stained by our sins so that the Father can no longer look upon Him?  After all, the entirety of the sins of our world are no small amount of sins, nor small amount of viciousness, nor selfishness we embrace nearly every day of our lives, refusing transformation and the freely offered love of God.  That is some weight Jesus must carry, even though He committed no sin at all.  And while God has all the power in the universe, He too must sit and watch His Son die the death we deserve.

Luke continues in verse 45 saying … “And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. [verse 46] And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”  So it is time for the pinnacle of the ceremony at Passover.  The hand of the High Priest is raised with a knife in it.  He like Abraham of old is set to bring the knife down and plunge it into the neck of the innocent lamb tied below upon an altar in the courtyard in front of the Most Holy place.  But like Abraham of old, before the High Priest can bring the knife down upon the lamb of that altar, an angel restrains his hands, and the lamb is spared, and the ropes fall away from that lamb and he gets up and runs away free back to his flock and his owner.  The People (both audience and priesthood) are amazed at this miracle, but before they can begin to process what has just happened further angels tear a hole in this dividing curtain from top to bottom.  The curtain falls away on the left and right and reveals not just a glimpse of the Most Holy place, but a full view of the entire chamber.  Everyone is looking in there, to a sight no one has ever seen and lived before this; an entire crowd of just normal Jewish believers.  For it is at this very moment that outside the city on a hill called Mt. Calvary, that Jesus is surrendering His spirit to God the Father, giving up the ghost, and dying on behalf of that nation and every other.

Today is surely different.  At the moment of his death there is an earthquake to shake not just this location, nor the nearby city of Jerusalem, but across the entire region of the middle east.  The whole area rumbles at the loss of innocent blood shed at our redemption and these earthquake waves are sent everywhere as a wakeup call to this event.  None will wonder if stories of it are true, for all will have felt it enough to terrify them at this moment in time.  His cross will be the epicenter.  People will be thrown to the ground, holding on to the ground in terror.  The scale of these miracles and scope of those affected are not just limited to small hill outside of Jerusalem but felt nearly everywhere, seen nearly everywhere.  Many have come from the far reaches of the earth to be here at this moment, perhaps most not even aware of what was going on at Calvary.  But they would search for answers behind the meaning of these things now.  Seeds were being planted across believers from the far corners of the earth, that would one day soon result in a harvest of new converts such as the world has never seen before.  Even in the heart of one who calls himself our enemy awakens recognition and conversion based upon what is taking place.

Luke continues in verse 47 saying … “Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.”  A Roman in charge of this horror sees what is happening and knows what he has just been responsible to carry out.  Yet he does not shrink from the terrible truth, instead embracing it, and giving witness to it aloud.  Some versions of this have the Roman declare surely this was the Son of God (more than just a righteous man).  Keep in mind it is still dark outside from noon till three.  Keep in mind that earthquake happens at the moment of the death of Jesus and is felt everywhere.  Keep in mind the testimony of everyone at Passover will be of a spared lamb freed by angelic hands, and a curtain torn from top to bottom revealing an empty Most Holy place.  People inside the city start hearing of Jesus at Calvary, and want to see it for themselves.  They are there.  They want to see.

Luke concludes in verse 48 saying … “And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned. [verse 49] And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.”  Travelers, pilgrims, believers, soon to be believers travel out to Calvary to see for themselves if the rumors of the death of Jesus are true, and to ponder what it means to them.  All of those disciples, and secondary disciples (the 70 selected by Jesus early in His ministry) watch these events from a safe-from-Roman distance and marvel at these events.  Lastly the women who are considerably braver than any of their male counterparts stand nearer the cross watching and weeping and wondering at the meaning of these events.  All of them must confront the error of their own beliefs.  The Messiah was NOT meant to end Roman oppression.  They were not going to be free.  They were going to remain where they were.  Their relief would come from sin, not from circumstances.  They would have to swallow hard to let go their own deep seated incorrect doctrines and acknowledge that Jesus was God, and God did something they did not expect.  Jesus died.  He allowed Himself to die.  He gave up His own life willingly.  He endured torture with no relief.  He hung naked allowing humiliation from a crowd of cruel religious leaders.  He endured all of it then died.  This was NOT something their Messiah was supposed to do.  But God did what they did not expect in a way they never expected.

Is it any different today?  We pray as if directing God to do what we want, what we expect.  But perhaps like those faithful of old, we must confront the idea that God does what He knows must be done, in things we did not expect, in ways we did not expect.  And we too must confront the error of our beliefs.  Jesus is bigger than what we believe.  His Truth is beyond our understanding of truth.  We are not the arbiters of truth, Jesus is, and Jesus alone.  For some back then, despite all the evidence, it was just too much to accept.  So they smote their breasts and went back to where they were staying.  For others however, the sadness of these events was just too overwhelming.  They too smote their breasts and returned home, but in mere sadness wondering what the Messiah was truly supposed to be, instead of what they had pigeon holed Him to be.  But to be clear it was the women who witnessed it all, endured it all, braved the danger of Roman assault and rape, and stood by our redeemer through the worst moments of His life.  For any who would dare to refute what the Holy Spirit might offer to a woman in the realm of spiritual gifts merely because she is a woman stands upon shaky ground.  For women were there.  Men were a good distance farther away.  There is lesson here for us, if we have the humility to accept it.

For three hours nature itself bore testimony to the divinity of Jesus Christ.  These were not coincidences.  The angel in the Temple restraining the hand of the High Priest like Abraham of old was not a coincidence.  The tearing of the curtain by other angelic hands not a coincidence (nor the timing).  It was orchestrated.  It was timed.  It was intended.  The startled lamb freed from the altar had little understanding of what was going on or why, perhaps we have no better.  But these things were miraculously timed, to end the symbolism of the religion of the past, and usher in the religion of Christianity.  Sacrifices were done.  THE Sacrifice had been made.  No more symbolic blood need be shed, the purest blood of God Himself had been shed.  The world was ablaze with these events and even more would be coming.  Perhaps it is so even today just out of your sight.  Are you able to challenge what you believe?  What if God is doing something right now you did not expect, or doing it in a way you never expected.  Can you come to accept Jesus and let Jesus lead?  I hope I can as the true age of Christianity dawns.

 

Ground Zero ...

Back on 9/11 in New York City; ground zero, was at the base of the now destroyed twin towers.  The most destruction inflicted on that day happened there.  The most deaths occurred there.  The circles of pain would ripple out from there touching and impacting so many other lives.  Even to this day, the effects of trying desperately to save others have brought toxic aftershocks to those who tried to rescue the fallen.  The ripples of pain still circle out from that event.  So we tend to think of that site as ground zero.  And as we shift our minds forward to the upcoming second coming of Jesus Christ where no more events like 9/11 will ever occur again – there is in this world another site that is ground zero for that coming event.  Some might say it is the city of Jerusalem in the state of Israel.  Others might think it will be Rome just over the Vatican.  Still others might say it will be Washington D.C. where so much has been done to keep freedom in the world today.  But those sites are not to be ground zero for the second coming.  There is a far more important site, a site you will care far more about.  Ground zero for the second coming will be directly in your heart, whether that is for salvation and redemption, or whether it is for destruction.

You will note, I did not say ground zero will be in your head or your brain.  What you think may matter, but often what you do, and what you think, are keenly influenced by how you feel about a given matter.  For instance, when you love something, or someone, you tend to focus on it.  The object of your affections matters to you, and your actions, and your thoughts, tend to reflect that.  We humans like to think we are governed completely by logic.  We imagine ourselves to be more like Vulcans from the program Star Trek than would ever be truly possible.  For example, we refrain from speeding while in our cars, because we do not want to get the traffic ticket that comes from disobeying the speeding laws.  That is the biggest deterrent.  Rare is the person who refrains from speeding because of the wisdom of keeping his speed down in order to keep himself and others safer on the road.  Most of us are in too much of a hurry to even think that way.  We have no time for that kind of thinking.  We reason that we are good drivers and can still keep safe even at a higher speed.  Until the red lights come on, and the feeling of dread in our stomachs begins to overwhelm us.  Speeding has little to do with logic, and is more driven by a feeling of impatience than anything else, deterred only by the dread of the consequences.

So it is any wonder that Jesus focuses His discussions about the second coming right back to the ground zero of your particular heart.  All the signs and wonders are meant to affect your heart, and remind it, who is important to love, that love itself is critical to your very salvation.  Even if God the Father were to whisper in your ear the very day and time when the second coming were to occur, would that knowledge impact your head or your heart?  In the Gospel of Luke, in chapter 21, Jesus has just laid out a series of predictions regarding both the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem, and of His own second coming, an event the locals have no reference point to understand.  After all, the local believers think that once the Messiah comes, He comes forever, so what need would He have to return, if He is supposed to be there all the time?  But that mistaken belief, you could call it a doctrine, was a misinterpretation of scripture combined with desperate circumstances in living conditions at the time.  And beliefs are all in the head.  Jesus does not bother to correct their thinking, that will come over time.  Instead He zooms in on what is most important about what He is saying, that all of this is meant to impact their hearts, for it is in their hearts where salvation will come to rest, or be rejected.  It is your heart, that is ground zero, for you.

Jesus picks back up speaking in verse 29 saying … “And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; [verse 30] When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. [verse 31] So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.”  The people of His day could predict the nearness of summer by examining when the fig tree branches, leaves, and shoots began to grow and become visible.  They could not tell you the exact day.  But they could tell you that summer was close.  Tree science is not supposed to be exact, but nearness was the point.  All the warning Jesus has given above for both key events, for the destruction of Jerusalem, and for His own Return to Earth, are meant to show us the nearness we are to each of these.  They are not meant to be exact science, that is not the point.  Jesus has already said nobody knows the exact day, not even Jesus, only the Father knows that.  But to understand we are near is meant to change our perspective.  It is meant to shift what we find important in our lives, in our hearts, to what is truly important.

He continues in verse 32 saying … “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.”  This needs to be understood in context.  The primary audience for the event to come in the lifetime of this generation was the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem (both His Temple body, and His Temple located there).  The people listening would largely live long enough to see both Temple’s destroyed.  Coincidentally they would also see the body of Jesus rebuilt in three days as He would ascend from the grave as He prophesied as well, though they would not see the rebuilding of their Temple building happen in their lifetimes.  The location would disappear.  But the Lord would not.  The second coming however obviously did not happen in their lifetimes.  It may happen in ours.  As noted earlier all the signs listed to occur before that event have all occurred.  The only thing left, is for Jesus to come back and take us home.  This nearness Jesus describes is again meant to impact the hearts of His listeners.

Jesus continues in verse 33 saying … “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”  Yet another prediction.  Our world will one day pass away, it will be recreated.  But the words of Jesus will not pass away.  They will be recorded in Scripture and compiled into a Bible, that will live on down through the centuries, even to our day and beyond.  It took no small effort on God’s part to insure those words remained accurate, and survived the onslaught against it that Satan would never stop.  Even in our day Satan’s attacks continue, and God’s preservation continues.  Our freedom to read the words of Jesus comes at no small price to our forefathers.  Some laid down their very lives to see us have this word.  Yet we treat it so casually.  But Jesus said His words would endure, and endure they have, as witnessed by the very Gospel we are examining today.

Jesus continues in verse 34 saying … “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. [verse 35] For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.”  And here is where ground zero is fully identified by Jesus Himself.  Take heed, or pay attention, says Jesus, lest at any time “your hearts” be … and then Jesus lists a variety of common conditions that plague the lives of men and women.  It is your heart that Jesus focuses on.  Keep in mind, Jesus is obsessed with saving you.  It is His primary mission, His love for you drives Him to want to save you.  Because Jesus so wants to save you He zooms in on the mechanism for your salvation.  Your salvation will occur in your heart first.  Before you think differently, you will love differently.  Before you let go of selfishness, you will learn to love others first.  Before you will lose the desire to even consider committing a sin, you will learn to love like Jesus loves.  All of that based squarely in ground zero of your heart.  And because the “nearness” of something does not mean it is here now, or perhaps even here tomorrow, it is easy to get distracted by other things.

It is not just pointless entertainment that can perhaps distract you, and mold your heart the wrong way.  Your heart can become chemically addicted by booze, or drugs, to seek escape than to seek Jesus in sobriety.  We look for escape from our problems in the wrong places, not finding escape, only finding further burden.  And those hard workers among us, who do not spend their time on frivolous things, nor do they drink or abuse drugs, look down their heads and ridicule those that have embraced these weaknesses.  Surely hard workers are not at risk.  But Jesus says plainly that they are at risk.  The cares of this life are equally able to distract the sober away from Jesus, as anything the drunkard may face.  Same disease, different cause.  Hard workers come to think, they carry the burdens of the world on their own shoulders.  They think themselves indispensable, either to their families, or to their companies, or both.  They come to think that what they do working, is more important than any other kind of time or love they could be doing.  Until words and memories of feelings of love are all they have left.  And age or burden will one day close the eyes on lives spent in toil, not living they way Jesus intended for us to live, not doing the work He intended us to do.  That work is to love one another.

So what should we do, to escape this fate?  Jesus does not leave us without hope, even though He knows all of us may be afflicted by these common conditions of life.  He continues in verse 36 saying … “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”  Watch.  Keep an eye out for these signs, and for the nearness you may be living in.  And as you keep a watchful eye, stay in prayer literally always.  Pray when you are alone.  Pray as you work.  Pray as you eat.  Pray as you watch TV or listen to music.  Talk to God like He was a friend sitting with you in your car, or listening to the same music, or watching the same TV show, because He is.  He is with you when you spend your time in all of these things.  Keep the channel of communication with Jesus open literally all the time.  When you face a problem, pray about it first.  Pray for your own heart to change on the matter, not just the other guy’s heart, but your own heart.  Pray to find the humility you need to find to put an end to a fight.  Ask no repentance from others, but be repentant on your own.  Forgive generously.  Put aside the pains of the past, and embrace the hope of the future, the potential of now.  Come to see how much ground zero of your salvation is your heart.

It your prayer and your open channel with Jesus that will come to change how you love others.  And in loving others, you will change who you are.  To be worthy to escape all the calamity that is coming, and to stand before the Son of Man, we must become like the Son of Man.  Ground zero for that transformation is the battle zone of your heart.  If you are constantly busy, constantly distracted by work, or knee deep in chemically altered states, how will you ever come to hear the still small voice of God?  Jesus longs to save you.  Open your heart, and find that salvation, and make love the most important priority of your life both now and forever.

 

Skipping Through Time [part two] ...

For Jesus, time does not exist like it does for us.  We see time as a line, moving along it from our starting point to our ending point, each second in between keeps clicking by, one after another until the time of our lives reaches its end.  But for the Creator of time, all of it happens at once.  There is no concept of a beginning because no beginning could ever be identified.  The human start of Jesus at His birth from Mary can be tracked.  But His beginning as the Son of God has no starting point, it just always was.  So if you swing your perspective to look forwards (for us) and examine the future, the same phenomenon is true, there is no end.  Infinite time forwards or backwards, and the ability to see any second of it from a first person perspective all at once, makes Jesus God, and mankind not god.  So when we pose a question to Jesus about the future, to understand His answer we may want to consider a few things.  He sees time differently.  He knows what is important.  He loves us and is ever consumed with saving us.  And as for any preconceived notions we have about what He might say, we should just go ahead and throw our own ideas right into the trash bucket where they belong.

The disciples of Jesus asked Him when the Temple might be destroyed, and what signs they may witness when that event is about to come to pass.  They were looking at a single event just foretold in the previous texts by Jesus in the history of our world.  But that event was not germane to the salvation of any of them.  Men are not saved because a Temple stands or falls.  But pride in our accomplishments, even our spiritual ones, has killed more than a few [see Lucifer].  What they needed was more time, in order to get to know Jesus better.  That time leading to strengthening of trust through our humility, which ultimately results in salvation brought about by God, now “that” was important.  But these folks asked a question because they were sad to think that their precious Temple would one day be so destroyed not even a single stone would last on another.  Jesus would answer from an entirely different perspective.

Luke picks up again in verse 20 saying … “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. [verse 21] Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.”  Jesus warns His followers to flee from advancing Roman armies.  This is NOT a fight they will win, if they stay, they will die.  There is to be no miraculous salvation save for listening to the prophetic warning being offered right here and right now.  Jesus extends His warning beyond just the city of Jerusalem to the entire region.  Get out.  Flee.  Go to other countries and do not fall in with the other Jewish folks who refuse to yield to Roman authority and are about to die for making rebellion.  No seas are to be parted.  No invading armies to wake up dead like in the Old Testament days.  Salvation, is to be found in submission, not rebellion.  Whether it is your earthly life you wish to preserve, or your next one, it is to begin with submission.

That is NOT a message a modern American Christian wants to hear.  To submit ourselves to authorities that make our lives harder is no easy feat.  We are a nation founded on freedoms and the throwing off of authority in which we have little say.  But the very words of Jesus Himself here do not specify a strategy of making rebellion, but rather running and forsaking all, finding a way to live in submission to a pagan authority no less.  Our God does not need us to defend Him at the point of a sword.  But Jesus does not say to submit our belief, only our actions in governmental matters.  This was not a war of rebellion about being forced to worship another god, if and when it ever came to that, it was the very life of the believer that was to be submitted rather than acknowledge anything but the one True God and His only Son Jesus Christ.  But serving in humility can also form an example of love offered, that converts the world from what it is, to what it could be.  No other course does that.  The unconverted rarely listen to hate or rebels bent on their destruction.  But they do listen to simple, humble, love offered without condition, as that example becomes some kind of lure and example they just cannot escape.

Jesus continues in verse 22 saying … “For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. [verse 23] But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. [verse 24] And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”  This prophecy is further described here by Jesus.  When it comes it will come swiftly.  It will be harder if it falls in the winter.  Other versions say harder if it falls on Sabbath.  Luke continues it will be harder for nursing mothers in those days.  Those of them running have a hard time.  But those of them who refuse to run will wind up being trapped in Jerusalem under siege so long they will consider, and then eat, those very small children in order to stay alive.  Nothing paints a more horrific picture than a nursing mother willing to eat her very own children to try to stave off hunger that is killing them both.  No manna will fall.  No miracles will be offered.  With rejection comes a price for our choices.  This is one of them.  We will pay it too, if we make the same choice.  This prophecy itself was meant to be a warning to help us make better choices, put off our rebellion, and find salvation in Jesus.

Jerusalem will be effectively destroyed.  Judea will as well.  This will begin the time of the gentiles and it will not end until that time is fulfilled.  Some have argued that the time of the gentiles ended after WW2 when the nation state of Israel was created as a defense against future holocausts.  But that tiny nation has never known peace, ever wonder why?  And this version of Jerusalem that exists today after it has been rebuilt is not the New Jerusalem.  It is merely another temporary version.  The New Jerusalem is being built by Jesus and will descend from heaven to earth at God the Father’s appointed time.  Only then will there be something permanent on planet earth, for it will remain there after the fires of hell are consumed, after death is a memory, and after the earth itself is made new once again.  And Jesus will be that city’s King of Kings forever more.  And the residents of that city will not just be Jewish by bloodline, but will include perhaps a far greater number of those same gentiles that came to know and believe in Jesus Christ.  I would argue until this final situation occurs, the time of vengeance and gentiles will never disappear.  After all, to this day, the most fundamental distinction between the Jewish faith, and the Christian one, is whether or not you believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah of the world.  Modern Jews still reject this idea, modern Christians are built upon it.  So while the nation of Israel may still contain a good number of Christian citizens in it, it is still defined by its rejection of Jesus Christ as in any way divine.

And while the disciples did not ask Jesus anything about a second coming, keeping in mind, they had no reference point for such a question, as they believed the Messiah would never leave them.  Jesus skipped the needle down through time and saw the same question would need an answer for those whose only hope became fixated on when He would return again.  Believers like you and me who would be reading the Gospel of Luke centuries later.  We may not want to know exactly when Jesus would return.  But we would still want our faith affirmed by knowing Jesus is indeed coming back.  Offering signs of such an event, would affirm our faith.  It would help the disciples as well, even though when they asked this question, they could not understand how Jesus chose to answer it.  Jesus continues looking through the ages and begins to outline signs that would precede His second coming, the one event more meaningful to believers than any other that would ever occur. 

Jesus picks back up in verse 25 saying … “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;”  Signs in the sun and the moon and the stars.  Thinking about these, every eye on planet earth could see them as the vastness of the sky offers a canvass none could ignore.  Historically all of these could be attributed to the mid 1800’s when various events occurred that focused the minds of believers on each category of these items.  But since that was nearly 200 years ago, modern believers may yet look for them again.  Few of us are content to believe all the signs of a soon coming of Jesus were completed before we were even born.  But perhaps that says more about our impatience than it does about truth.  Next comes distress of nations with perplexity or worry.  There has been 2 great world wars since the 1800’s ended, does there need to be more of these before we come to believe this part of the signage has been fulfilled.  The sea and waves roaring.  Tsunami’s we can track all over the world today due to far greater action in tectonic plates than we know about in generations past.  A mountain of trash so great in the ocean it resembles the size of a continent just floating out there polluting and leaving destruction in its wake.  It would be hard to argue that any of these signs still remain, even though it is possible.

Jesus continues in verse 26 saying … “Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”  Men’s hearts failing them for fear as they consider what is coming on the earth as the powers of heaven are shaken.  Global climate change anyone? Anyone?  The level of destruction we have experienced so far is a small fraction of what will come if we do not change fast enough.  And most scientists say we have already passed the tipping point.  Rich and poor alike are destined to suffer a similar fate.  Entire regions we have lived in before may fast become completely uninhabitable.  Millions may die either by catastrophe or starvation.  While there is still a glimmer of hope today.  Many believers falsely believe God would never let this kind of worldwide destruction occur.  When here is Jesus right hear stating it in prophecy and we choose to look away.  We are not meant to ignore the plight of our world, or to indulge our every pleasure at the growing cost to our world.  And if we do nothing, be assured the fate of a destroyed Temple in Jerusalem with mothers eating babies from starvation may also be one we too have yet to experience.  For it is our arrogance that kills us the quickest.  And our humble submission that could see us live.

Jesus concludes these events in verse 27 saying … “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”  It is only after all of these things that we will ALL see Jesus, the Son of Man coming in the clouds with power and great glory.  One could argue all the signs have already occurred, if that is true the only one left is the physical return of Jesus in the clouds to carry us home.  So why do we live as if that is a mere fairy tale, ignoring how we live, ignoring any impact on who we are.  We deny the power of Jesus to change our lives because we have lost faith that He will.  We have tried so long to make ourselves into “good” people we have lost sight of submitting to Jesus to allow Him to change who we are, how we think, and how we love.  The second coming of Jesus represents an end to all struggle on earth.  Those who have been made holy will rejoice in that event.  Those who remain evil, will remain evil still, and have only fear and horror at it.

Jesus offers an epilogue to all of this in verse 28 saying … “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”  Lift up your heads, your redemption draws near.  This verse has become lyrics in some of the music we sing.  But I think we somewhat miss the point.  We are not to be waiting for actual second coming of Jesus to look up.  We were meant to lift our heads as we see the signs of His coming unfold, and as we live in the time just before His great return.  We do not need to wait to find redemption.  It is here for us now.  We are meant to find our redemption now, ahead of the second coming.  We are meant to witness a change in how we live now, how we think, and how we love.  All of these changes in the here and now.  And we the modern Christian church of our day could be experiencing all of this now.  If we simply humble ourselves and submit to Jesus.  Lose the pride we carry in what we have built, or what we think we have accomplished.  Tear all of that down, by submitting it all to Jesus.  And find what He builds within us as all that matters at all.

Jesus sees this interim time we live in as very brief.  For Him that time we live in is “soon” next to His pending return.  Obviously He thinks about time differently than we do.  But for you, any number of unexpected endings to your life, could make your timeline much sooner than you thought.  Yet, none of these warnings were meant to inspire fear in us.  They were meant to take the fear from us, and through submission in Jesus, learn to live like we were really meant to live.  One second of that is worth 10 years of the old way.  And seconds turn into minutes that turns into weeks, months, and even years.  Imagine living like Jesus has in mind for you for years, even here in this world.  Now if you can, skip the needle of time in your mind down through the millenia to come in the city of New Jerusalem that Jesus built.  For there you will be the new creation He intended.  But beyond being physically different, you will be living the way Jesus enables you to live.  So why wait one second longer than needed?  Why not start right here, right now, and from now till then, and then beyond to a time with no end.

 

Skipping Through Time [part one] ...

What if your mind became untethered by time?  What if you could see not only what is happening now in front of you, but what happens tomorrow, in a year, in 100 years.  What if this worked not only forwards but backwards as well.  Imagine the mind of Jesus for just a moment.  Jesus is human, that is, one of us born of Mary.  But Jesus is also God, that is, the only begotten of The Father.  So Jesus knows what is happening now as it happens, but He also knows what happened with Moses, or David, or Abraham because He experienced their lives with them so long ago.  And what is more Jesus can see what happens in the near future, the distant future, and through the eons of time we have yet to experience.  For us humans this is hard to imagine.  We have a distinct perspective anchored by our present lives in this time and in this place.  Time is our tether.  And to imagine time passing or rather existing in a different way is difficult for us to imagine.  Though lately I have begun to understand this idea of time much better through visions I have been experiencing.

But when people refer to Jesus as a prophet, this is a radical understatement.  Prophets typically have a very constricted view of events coming in a future they do not fully understand.  Jesus has the full view of everything, in every time, across every locality.  He does not just see the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem by the Romans coming in just a few decades.  He also sees the destruction of the Vatican in Rome, by the upheaval of His second coming leaving all that art, and all those treasures left with not one stone upon another.  Christians, particularly Catholics, do not enjoy thinking this way.  We treat the Vatican, with all that beauty and art, as if it were meant to stand forever.  But it is not.  It is only a very ornate building destined to be just as destroyed as the very city of Rome itself at the end of all things.  No difference between the Vatican and the local power plant in Rome except perhaps the perceived value of the pieces left in the pile.  The second coming of Jesus will inevitably result in all that destruction, even of Christian sites we cannot imagine that happening to.  But alas destruction is surely coming.  Your heart on the other hand, the heart of a true worshipper of our God, is never meant to be destroyed, only shattered and then rebuilt and made new by Jesus.

When Luke then describes the foretelling of the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem, perhaps it would be good for us modern Christians to imagine Jesus was talking about the destruction of our Temples, of all of them, at the end of all things if not before.  Perhaps only then we can equate the feelings of the people back then for their venerable institutions as we might have for our own.  Perhaps only then it would be as hard for us to understand how hard those words were to hear, then and now.  Luke picks up in chapter 21 of his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why starting in verse 5 saying … “And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,”  It begins for those folks the same way it begins in your heart, in my heart, with a pride in what we have built to honor God.  Precious stones, precious art, not entirely different.  We think the Vatican so important in terms of art, it could never be destroyed.  All those marble carvings by artists whose like has never been seen since.  That magnificent painting in the Sistine Chapel.  It must surely be meant to endure forever.  But it is not.  It is meant for the junk heap.  It is meant for the trash pile of history, all that work destroyed in an instant, by the one event every Christian should cherish even more.

The people of Jesus’ day were equally proud of their Temple.  It was not as glorious as the one David planned, and Solomon built.  None was ever so glorious.  No statues, but as ornate as ornate could be.  Yet due to the sin in the hearts of the Jewish people of earlier days, who looked away from God and towards the orgies of other false deities, that first Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.  Now in the days of Jesus, a rejection of the Messiah was to lead to once again the destruction of the symbol of the worship of the very coming Messiah that they refused to accept.  The people were proud of the precious gems.  Jesus saw those stones as hard as the current leadership’s hearts.  What the people took pride in, that is the great structure of the Temple, was to be destroyed and cast down.  It was their own hearts the leaders refused to yield.  Do we yield our own hearts any more today?

Luke continues in verse 6 saying … “As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”  What we take pride in must needs be destroyed.  Perhaps it is the only way our pride might ever diminish.  For pride is not something we are supposed to cling to, or treasure.  Modern man craves the legacy of notoriety, or at least remembrance.  We hope that what we do will last, even though we will not.  That painting in the Sistine chapel has been preserved through the centuries, its artist remembered well for it.  More recently the sermons of Billy Graham have been remembered as well, those words leading many to the foot of the cross.  Neither men perfect, but both remembered.  But I dare say there was less pride in reciting the grace of God from a pulpit, than there is in creating one of the greatest painted works of all time, even though the subject matter was identical.  But it is neither the elegant words that convict the hearts of men, nor the magnificent visualizations that inspire his heart to the feet of his maker.  It is only the power of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of man that can do that.  Billy Graham was merely a tool.  Michael Angelo was merely a tool.  The tools pass.  The power of conviction does not.  We should take less pride in what we believe we accomplish, and recognize more the real power comes only from God, not anything we have been inspired to do, or believe we accomplish, or build.

Luke continues in verse 7 saying … “And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?”  Now understand that those hearing this pronunciation of Jesus regarding the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem were not asking when the second coming was bound to happen.  They did not even have a concept of a second coming as yet, because to a man, they all believed that Jesus was the Messiah and the Messiah was meant to last forever.  So for them, this prophecy represented only a small defeat in a Kingdom meant to last forever.  Those from the other ten tribes may even have thought this just retribution upon Jerusalem for its arrogance in thinking worship could only be legitimately celebrated at this one location.  The other ten tribes worshipped on a different mountain in general.  But whether the audience knew it or not, the question they posed to Jesus, asked Jesus to look ahead, and Jesus could see it all.  Not just the answer to what they were asking but the answers all of us need, and the same dangers all of us face, both then and now.

The mind of Christ loosens the tether of the human imposition of time, and He looks ahead as He responds to them picking up in verse 8 saying … “And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.”  The first sign, is also the first warning, of men who claim to be our savior and Messiah.  We should not go after them.  I wonder is Jesus talking about you or me?  Oh of course, neither of us claim to be Jesus or God or any kind of Messiah.  That would be crazy talk.  But then, how many of us decide we are able to break the bondage of sin by our own self will power.  How many of us dare to believe we are strong enough to defeat the devil and make it to heaven by performing good acts, and avoiding the bad ones.  To never again sin, as if sin is nothing more than a choice on our part.  By any of this logic, we make ourselves a partner in our own salvation, in effect we make ourselves our own Messiah.  And we start following the guy in the mirror cause he seems to know what is needed to move on and move up.  While neither of us might follow a David Koresh, or some other wacko (pardon the pun) who claims to be Jesus.  How many of us so easily follow ourselves, placing pride in all we have done spiritually, all we have accomplished, all we have built.

Jesus continues in verse 9 saying … “But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. [verse 10] Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:”  The destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem was actually caused by the rebellion of the people against Rome.  It was not some external war that just strafed the land of Judea and took out the Temple in its wake.  It was instigated by the people who felt cheated that the real Messiah did not throw off the yoke of Roman oppression, and so decided to take matters into their own hands.  Sound familiar?  How often does God not do what you ask Him to do, so you try to help Him out by doing it yourself?  That is not some external war, or actions caused by others that comes and destroys you, it is what you do, what you decide, what you think is best, that is really only pain and death wrapped up in some shiny appealing wrapper.  The end of all things, will not be caused by wars we start with each other.  It will be hurried or delayed by whether we learn to submit ourselves to Jesus and allow Jesus to do all the fighting.

Luke continues in verse 11 saying … “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.”  Nature’s own upheaval will mark what is coming.  It is said not a single Christian died in the siege of Jerusalem, the end of which marked the full destruction of the Temple.  For a great sign appeared in the heavens of a chariot riding towards the city and every Christian knew what it meant, and fled before it was too late.  In our day we have seen these earthquakes on a global scale.  We know where famine still lives today.  And the pestilence of Covid is not the first to strike the world, nor will it be the last.  These are milestones, signs of a coming Savior we need so desperately.  But they should not cause us fear, they should motivate us to surrender and find peace.  Our lives, and our deaths here in this world are truly incidental.  But our salvation in the next is the only thing important, and should provide us motivation to help others while we still have time to help.  To love others when they need it the most.  Who cares about earthquakes, if my heart is so sedentary it cannot be moved by the plight of my own neighbor, by my own spouse, by my own children or parents?  If it is my heart that is so set in stone, perhaps it is my heart that so desperately needs the earthquake to shake it loose from its apathy.

Jesus continues in verse 12 saying … “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. [verse 13] And it shall turn to you for a testimony.”  Before Jerusalem would be sacked, early Christians would face persecution from those who refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah.  Believers would be dragged into courts and synagogues and prisons.  Brought even before kings and rulers, in order to see them crushed by those refusing to believe.  But God would turn this persecution against the persecutors in the form of delivering His testimony of love to those who might have never otherwise heard it.  Instead of squelching the gospel, they amplified it.  Members of the court heard a new message of love.  Secretaries, and wardens, gaurds, and ministers of the rulers heard a gospel of love that literally broke their hearts and put them at the feet of a cross.  By trying to kill the gospel message, persecution only widened its reach and its passion.

Jesus continues in verse 14 saying … “Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: [verse 15] For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. [verse 16] And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. [verse 17] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. [verse 18] But there shall not an hair of your head perish. [verse 19] In your patience possess ye your souls.”  So some of this sounds like superficial contradiction in what is said.  First Jesus says don’t even worry about what you are going to say when you are brought into courts and such.  Jesus Himself, through the power of the Holy Spirit, will take over your words and your delivery, making sure it is effective.  But also don’t figure everything will always turn out OK.  Your own families will betray you all the way to death.  You will be hated for the love of Jesus you reflect.  But not one hair of your head will perish.  How could that be if you are dead from a family betrayal?  Perhaps the same way that in patience you can possess your own souls.  Trusting to Jesus your lives.  Whether you are spared death for a while, or taste it much earlier than you imagined, what is important is your salvation, the salvation of your souls.  Being patient to let Jesus save you, in this you follow not lead, you are humble no kind of partner or replacement for the Messiah, and ultimately your faith in Jesus to save you bears fruit.  Life and death are not important, salvation and eternal life are all that is important.

The mind of Christ is untethered by time, and He reveals to His followers what is to come, some of it right away, some of it not.  But Jesus is far from finished yet …